Every tuesday evening the cinema has half price night so the four of us enjoyed a couple of good films the new James Bond and Robins first in 3D, the Life of Pi..it was a huge complex with 6 screens and both times we went only a handful of people were present..though even with so few people the smell of popcorn was overwhelming..

After all that sun and blue sky we were so upset to see three days of cloud followed by a couple of days of cold rain...it was saturday so Mark and Svieta took us shopping but it was so wet and cold that even the locals looked shocked.. the most interesting thing about rain here, is they have no drainage system, as it only rains for 10 days a year.... and we had 2 of them..hmm.!!..and so the roads and parks flood very quickly.. the main road close to our apartment was flooded and the grassy park and golf course now had ducks and geese enjoying a swim.

. quite amazing to see when we were laughing at the signs saying " road prone to flooding " last week..

Sunday and the sun was out again so Mark and Lana took us to the Pheonix area for another mountain hike up to Hidden Valley and Fat Man's Pass .The hike began from the easily accessible Buena Vista Lookout, one of several scenic points along the main drive through South mountain Park. As we climbed steadily from the parking area we watched the parade of jets float lazily down to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Then as we reached the summit we dropped slightly down into the central valley plateau and lost sight of the urban bustle of Tempe and Pheonix around us. About 1.5 miles from the trailhead, we came to the signed junction to Hidden Valley. Almost immediately beyond, was Fat Man's Pass,a 20-foot-long passage between smooth granite boulders only a foot apart in some places, first we walked past not realising that that was the trail but on reaching a dead end retraced our steps. With svetlana leading the way, as the thinnest of us, closely followed by me of course...lol...we turned sideways and squeezed through then bringing up the rear was Robin... he had to breathe in ..too many pies Robin...!!.. The trail now opened out into the hidden valley , a flat dry river bed surrounded by huge boulders each side with only one way in and one way out..it was amazing and continued to have a few challenges along the way . .. an outcrop of rocks with a 20 foot drop , we slide down on our bottoms, and a few low tunnels we had to duck under..one of the most interesting walks we had been on..